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Software Business
Executive Report
May 7, 2007
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| In This Issue: |
Order your Industry Directory TODAY!!
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Feature
- Market Based Branding for Fast-Growth Software Companies
- The Island of Misfit Mis-thought Products and Customer Advisory Councils
Company News
- IT Companies Too One Dimensional in Marketing Performance Measurement
- Adobe Gives Developers Ability to Enhance Flex
- Skype Extras Surpass 10 Million Third-Party Plug-in Downloads
- BackFlip Software and Visual Mining Introduce Communication-Enabled Performance Dashboards
- Aldon Announces Acquisition by Marlin Equity Partners
- KANA to Acquire eVergance
- Invensys Agrees to Acquire CIMNET
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SLAM 2007: Sales, Licensing, Alliances & Marketing for Software  Companies
June 6-7
Hyatt Regency Tech Center in Denver, Colorado.
Looking to reach executives and managers at software, SaaS and Web 2.0 companies in the $25-150 million revenue range? That is the sweet spot for Software Business' SLAM 2007: Sales, Licensing, Alliances & Marketing for Software Companies Conference. This is a conference about getting the right strategies and solutions in place to take advantage of the changing software market. Companies in attendance at SLAM 2006 included, Salesforce.com, Sun Microsystems, CollabNet, SalesNet, Symon, SPSS, Aperture, Data Synapse, Rally Software, Opsource, Sage Software, UBS, and Sapien Technologies. This year's conference will be held in Denver on June 6-7 at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center.
SLAM 2007 is a working conference that delivers interactive content that CEOs, Vice Presidents, Product Managers, Sales Staff and Marketing Teams use to take advantage of the hottest market opportunities.
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| FEATURE |
Market Based Branding for Fast-Growth Software Companies
By Peter Simon, President of Simon Management Group and speaker at SLAM 2007.
“Branding is the emotional positioning of a product as perceived by its customers. Product branding is achieved through a combination of factors, including the product name and logo, use of color, text, graphics, and sound, the style of various other design elements, marketing, and most importantly, the attributes of the product experience itself.” -- Microsoft Developers Network
The Most Common Approach to Branding -- Inside Out
Marketers spend significant time on branding components such as product design, packaging, logos, colors, words, web presence, marketing materials, and many more. Most of this effort is typically spent on wrestling with constructing the “right” combination of visuals and words that will be accurate, distinctive, and memorable.
While this effort is absolutely necessary, too often the most important component of branding is either not included or, even worse, not valued. Branding decisions made without timely input from relevant prospects and customers are never as strong as they can be.
Recently, a high-growth young company wanted to know how well its branding programs were doing and was stunned to learn that more than half of its target market had not heard of it. Input from the marketplace is essential and, though often considered difficult to obtain, can be readily collected for almost all of the components which contribute to the creation of a brand. The market is more than willing to provide its perceptions on a range of issues and ideas. A marketer needs only to ask.
Some parts of branding are more important than others. In my experience, there are two levels of understanding which branding should strive to convey to the relevant marketplace; (1) company and product awareness and (2) company and product differentiation. The absorption of these key understandings by the market can be readily tested.
Of course startups and emerging companies face different branding challenges than those of more established companies. But even for young companies launching initial products, the market can provide important guidance because it has already developed perceptions about companies and products against which they are going to compete. Using the market’s input to guide and monitor branding actions is critical to success.
An Outside In Approach
Just as marketers would like software developers to incorporate user input into products, marketers should regularly engage their customers and prospects to monitor their position, sense competitive actions, test ideas and themes, and identify areas for improvement. To create compelling advantages, branding should be a dynamic process working to achieve and defend unique and valuable positions.
Successful branding is the sum of the perceptions of specific individuals in target markets relative to those of key competitors. There are many ways to ask for market input: face-to-face discussions, focus groups, telephone interviews, and email surveys, are the main methods . The types of information sought, the quantity of input needed, and the availability of the individuals whose perceptions matter should determine the ways used to collect the information. The design of the data collection should be driven by several core questions:
- What are the best measures of the effectiveness of your branding activities? At different times in the product and company lifecycle there are different brand related goals and measurements.
- Who has the information which can be used to measure effectiveness?
- What is the best way to collect this information so that the results are accurate, unbiased, and substantial enough to be useful?
It is impressive how willing and interested individuals are in providing feedback on products and companies once they are asked. There are hardly any questions within reason which are off limits.
Branding is Relative
Just as products must compete through direct comparisons with others, branding must reflect market needs more effectively than the competition. The success of any company’s branding is a direct result of both its actions and the actions of all of the competitors addressing the same prospects.
Each company and each product will have specific messages that should be tested on their own and relative to appropriate competitors. Most important branding attributes are easy to measure, compare with other companies, and track over time. In setting up branding tests, additional questions to ask are:
- What are the most important company and product messages that you want your target prospects and customers to receive and remember?
- How effective have you been at getting these messages through to your audiences?
- How effective have you been relative to your key competitors?
- In what areas do you need to do to improve?
An Example
Several years ago, a CAD software client wanted to measure the impact some of its key branding activities in comparison to several of its competitors (the data is real but the company names have been changed). My firm conducted telephone interviews with 100 U.S. engineering managers in small to mid-sized companies to collect direct input on several characteristics which were core elements of the client’s branding activities. One survey question tested for familiarity using a 1 to 10 scale:
Within the target market, some product and company characteristics and messages are more important than others. A company should strive to establish a specific relative position, for example “most innovative,” or “highest quality products,” or “greatest value”. All of these types of perceptions can be collected and compared over time. Our client wanted to understand where it stood on the issue of the range of products offered.
It is desirable to quantify impressions wherever possible in order to wring out biases and avoid subjective interpreting. When questioning the market, wording and answer prompting must be carefully considered so that the results are useful. But with a little preparation, branding will be significantly more effective through the use of market input.
Conclusion
Measuring brand perceptions and the effectiveness of branding efforts through direct access to prospects and customers is the only way to gain an objective and timely understanding of how a company and its products are perceived compared with what has been communicated. Once the market information has been gathered it must be rigorously and objectively analyzed and interpreted. Only then will branding activities be most effective because they are market-based. With good research design, results can be measured and tracked over time to determine the impact of on-going efforts by a company and its competitors.
Market-based branding requires thinking of branding first as relative market perceptions and second as a set of marketing communications and programs. Since market perceptions are constantly changing, branding must also be considered a constantly adapting set of actions.
About the Author
Peter Simon, President of Simon Management Group, is a former executive with Lotus Development and Banyan Systems and has worked with over a hundred software companies on their market development and penetration strategies over the last 25 years. Peter will be speaking on using market intelligence for competitive advantage at the SLAM conference in Denver on June 7, 2007.
The Island of Misfit Mis-thought Products and Customer Advisory Councils
By Louis Columbus, Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions
What became clear after managing a few applications and products that started out as engineering love children was that no one in our customer base really cared for them. Our development cycles had to change. Even our distributors, the proxy of the Island of Misfit Products, couldn't get excited -- that was scary.
In many technology-driven companies, customer advisory councils are the weapon of choice of marketing and sales Email Marketing Software - Free Demo departments when the unmet customer needs get lost in new product development.
Anyone who has worked in the technology industry long enough has been handed a product or application that is an engineering love child. Born out of a passion for technology and just enough room in a product road map to substantiate its existence theoretically, these products meander through their life cycles, destined to be price-elasticity experiments in midlife and ultimately blown out below cost to channel partners.
Where Do They Go?
Too bad there is not an " Island of Misfit Products." If there was, some of the ones I have been handed would be the tour guides there. My first one was a homely little printer that was built like a Hummer and weighed as much as one too -- it was perfect for the home office of a bodybuilder who speaks Japanese.
What became clear after managing a few applications and products that started out as engineering love children was that no one in our customer base really cared for them. Our development cycles had to change. Even our distributors, the proxy of the Island of Misfit Products, couldn't get excited -- that was scary.
Lessons Learned
After having completed a dozen councils in three years, one fact immediately emerged: All of us were wrong about the future product direction. Customers took us into entirely new businesses and products we'd never come close to thinking of. Here are the lessons learned:
- Define only a few highly specific advisory council objectives. This is critical to take on first because engineering often has a completely different perspective of what the council will accomplish versus marketing, sales or service.
An excellent first objective for an advisory council is to get a sense of the gap between what the company has delivered in terms of product or application value and fit with their needs, pricing and licensing policies, service, service programs and overall performance of the company.
Go after the gaps between what you're delivering in each of these areas and the value your customers perceive they are getting. Lastly, too many objectives makes the afternoon so crammed that there is a tendency to rush through the remainder of the agenda.
- Test the advisory council pitch presentation and guidelines. It's critical to get feedback on the pitch presentation and guidelines from both sales managers and a few trusted customers before formally launching the program. The intent of the pitch presentation is to explain why the advisory council is needed, what the agenda is and the overall expectations for participants. You'll want to get feedback on strategy issues, as well.
- When planning the council, think "event" over "strategy interview." There is a difference -- an event is one that has a balance of social and meeting activities, while the strategy interview is completely focused on just getting information. Plan for an event far enough in advance to lock in an economical rate at a local hotel or one that has golf and other activities -- it's a good way to drive up attendance. Think of this as an event that will hopefully become a tradition in your company.
- Strive to create a CEO advisory council first. Get the highest ranking executives you can from your customers, as these executives are eager to learn from each other as well. While it may be difficult to get on their calendars, I found having that company executives recruit and invite them personally worked well. It's important to keep this group small -- around 10 to 12 executives -- so make sure there is enough interaction and give them a chance to review the agenda first.
- Keep council members on the same level. It's also important to keep each group of council members at approximately the same level of managerial experience. The C-level and senior managers are there to learn from each other; typically mid-level managers are there with a very specific set of problems to fix. Keep these groups differentiated with agendas aligned to their needs for best results.
- Budget at least 60 percent of the agenda specifically for feedback. Now this sounds pretty obvious, yet I've seen some advisory councils that are more like fan club meetings than true feedback sessions, maybe that's why I was invited as an analyst. Yet the best ones are those that allow the senior executives of your customers to speak their minds.
I'll never forget the CIO Back up your business with HP's ProLiant ML150 Server - just $1,299. of a major pharmaceuticals company talking about how pricing policies put his department and the company through hell; he spoke only ten minutes but his comments made a lasting change in pricing within two weeks.
- Bring a "buck stops here" mentality to the council event. The best advisory council meetings are run by either the CEOs of smaller companies or divisional heads of larger ones, and all the best events have a no-nonsense approach to answering customers' questions about what will and won't be supported, what changes in strategy will and won't happen, and in the best councils I've seen, have the ability to make commitments to change service policies, on the spot, and make it stick.
That speaks volumes to the commitment for getting customer feedback and acting on it. This includes following up with the council notes, action items from management, and comments on which issues are going to be acted on.
- Thank customers by acting on their advice. Earning credibility through this step sets the foundation for the ability to go back again and again, to make sure your company is staying aligned with the needs of customers.
Associated Costs
In terms of costs, advisory councils can be held for less than US$10,000 -- providing just the meeting space, catering and hotel rooms are covered. For larger events that include a two-day agenda, airfare and up to 20 C-level executives invited, the costs can approach $60,000 to $100,000, depending on location.
The payback, however, of these advisory councils is worth it. Nowhere will the gap between what you're delivering and what your customers need come out as fast than during a well-run customer advisory council.
Louis Columbus is a member of the Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions Team and a former senior analyst with AMR Research. He has worked with enterprise clients on defining solutions to their channel management, order management and service lifecycle management strategies. Mr. Columbus also teaches graduate-level international business and marketing courses at Webster-Loyola Marymount University and University of California, Irvine. He is the author of fifteen books on technology and two books on analyst relations.
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Company News |
IT Companies Too One Dimensional in Marketing Performance Measurement
The efficiency and effectiveness of marketing activities can, today, be precisely measured. But here it is particularly IT companies which are not careful enough warns Marco Piskurek from Munich-based marketing and communications agency Pepper GmbH. Advertising budgets are often allocated "according to feeling" as there is a lack of a well-founded marketing performance measurement. "Marketing should be understood as a real business which must prove its efficiency," says the Munich-based marketing and communications expert whose agency counts major players in the IT sector such as Hewlett Packard, Intel and Symantec, amongst its clients.
"Companies often allocate their budgets without being able to later assess the success of the activities and professionally evaluate them – an expensive blind flight," said Piskurek. This is also proven in studies, for example an investigation by the European CMO Council. Here market researchers found that only 20 per cent of the European IT and telecommunications industry uses proven models to evaluate their marketing activities. Eighty per cent of the companies complained that there are insufficient opportunities to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing.
"That is just an excuse – today we are able to accurately measure and prove which marketing campaigns are successful and which are not," emphasises Piskurek. An IDC study which was published in 2006 revealed similar findings and highlights the deficiencies in marketing evaluation in companies. This study also proved that the subject of Marketing Performance Measurement is more current than ever, particularly in the IT industry.
Why MPM?
A solid Marketing Performance Measurement enables marketing to be evaluated as precisely as any other department in a company. This also has benefits internally – where the marketing performance and efficiency can be compared, black on white, with other departments, it is much easier, for example, to discuss budgets. The core of MPM, nevertheless, lies in the measurability of the success of marketing activities to use budgets with maximum efficiency and effectiveness. "Marketing is business and not only art or science," emphasises Marco Piskurek from Pepper. In this, he also sees a form of protection for marketing against "hostilities" from sales which often sees marketing in the own company as solely a tool for short-term sales increase. "Long-term goals, for example brand development and the consumer's trust in company products and brands, can also be measured and clearly proven today."
Complexity in MPM realisation
In the IT industry, in particular, it is often said that marketing performance measurement is too complex and difficult. Many companies limit their MPM activities to the use of software solutions which promise them, in the form of marketing dashboards, "Realtime Monitoring of KPIs and ROIs". Yet these tools are only part of a qualified MPM concept says Marco Piskurek. Instead, the Munich marketing and communications expert recommends IT companies use an interaction of four success factors.
1. Strategy and planning
- Define qualitative and quantitative indicators and target values (KPIs).
- Make investment and campaign decisions on basis of expected results – "predictive marketing" instead of "reactive marketing".
- Secure a continuous learning process through the realisation of test campaigns. Only few companies in the IT industry are today prepared to make budgets available for test campaigns.
2. Analysis and indicators
- Consistent and long-term defined indicators which are "understood" by all departments.
- Evaluation of qualitative data (e.g. feedbacks) and quantitative findings (e.g. number of leads) to understand the connections between cause and effect.
- Ensure continuous performance measurement on a tactical and strategic level with significant KPIs.
3. Processes and organisation
- Integration of sales for a sound "end to end measurement" of the success of marketing activities on the sales figures. This is a big challenge as many IT companies sell indirectly and it is difficult for them to access their partner's sales figures.
- Establishment of cross-company processes which secure the measuring and evaluation of campaign effects company-wide.
- Development of qualified analysis know-how in the marketing department in order to be able to interpret the results correctly.
4. Systems and technologies
- Gradual migration of simple pragmatic solutions (e.g. via Excel) to more complex MPM tools.
- Choose specific MPM software not from a technological but a content-related viewpoint.
- Develop solution to "Realtime Monitoring" in the mid-term.
Define clear goals
"One of the most important requirements for successful MPM is a clear definition of achievable goals," emphasises Marco Piskurek. Here, particularly the interaction between the individual communication activities, tools and employed media must be observed. Only very rarely is an activity which is viewed in isolation the one which brings success. The success of a communication tool is often only made possible through the "preliminary work" of another.
Backing from management
"If marketing positions itself as a real business within the company with the aid of MPM, it experiences, also from management and the stakeholders, a significantly bigger buy-in," knows Marco Piskurek from his experience with clients.
Contact www.pepperglobal.com
Adobe Gives Developers Ability to Enhance Flex
Adobe Systems Incorporated recently released source code for Adobe Flex as open source. This initiative will let developers worldwide participate in the growth of the industry's most advanced framework for building cross-operating system rich Internet applications (RIAs) for the Web and enabling new Apollo applications for the desktop. The open source Flex SDK and documentation will be available under the Mozilla Public License (MPL).
Available since June 2006, the free Adobe Flex SDK includes the technologies developers need to build effective Flex applications, including the MXML compiler and the ActionScript 3.0 libraries that make up the popular Flex framework. Together, these elements provide the modern, standards-based language and programming model used by leading businesses such as BMC Software, eBay, salesforce.com, Scrapblog, and Samsung to create RIAs deployed on the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player.
“Open source has been pivotal to the rapid growth of Alfresco, and it's great to see Adobe take a similar approach to Flex technology,” said John Newton, CTO of Alfresco. “We've been very interested in using the Flex SDK to put a more usable and engaging face on enterprise content management, and this move by Adobe makes that all the more attractive.”
Using the MPL for open sourcing Flex will allow full and free access to source code. Developers will be able to freely download, extend, and contribute to the source code for the Flex compiler, components and application framework. Adobe also will continue to make the Flex SDK and other Flex products available under their existing commercial licenses, allowing both new and existing partners and customers to choose the license terms that best suit their requirements.
“The definition and evolution of Flex has been influenced by our incredibly talented developer community from day one,” said David Mendels, senior vice president, Enterprise and Developer Business Unit at Adobe. “The decision to open source Flex was a completely natural next step. I am incredibly excited to deeply collaborate with the developer community on Flex, and further fuel its momentum and innovation.”
The open source licensing of Flex is part of an initiative to engage the community in the creation of Flex technology. Starting this summer with the pre-release versions of the next release of the Flex product line, code named “Moxie,” Adobe will post daily software builds of the Flex SDK on a public download site with a public bug database. The release of open source Flex under the MPL will occur in conjunction with the final release of Moxie, currently scheduled for the second half of 2007.
Contact www.adobe.com/go/opensourceflex
Skype Extras Surpass 10 Million Third-Party Plug-in Downloads
There have been more than 10 million downloads of Skype Extras since the Extras Manager in Skype 3.0 for Windows was launched just over four months ago. Extras are plug-ins written by independent third-party developers that let users expand Skype functionality and enrich their Skype conversations.
With easy access to Extras, users are doing more with Skype such as playing games like checkers or backgammon, personalizing video avatars and collaborating with friends, family and business colleagues all over the world. Through the Extras Manager, introduced on December 13, 2006 in Skype for Windows 3.0, it is now even easier to find, install, and launch Extras, as well as access Extras from various places within Skype.
Skype Extras has also created a business opportunity for thriving third-party developers by offering a way for users to easily access their software. Developers can now easily create, publish and promote their software services to over 196 million registered users.
The application that currently tops the list of most frequently downloaded Extras is CrazyTalk for Skype, which allows users to use live avatars and emotions on Skype video calls. It has been downloaded more than 3.5 million times since becoming available on Extras. “Since joining the Skype Developer Program, downloads have rocketed from thousands to millions a month,” said Charles Chen, CEO of Reallusion, the company which published CrazyTalk.
With nearly 30% of Skype users adopting Skype for business purposes, the Pamela Call Recorder Extra is currently the most downloaded business application, having been downloaded over a million times. “Joining the Skype Developer Program has helped us add users and significantly increase our revenue. Since the launch, the Pamela Call Recorder Extra has outperformed our direct Web site downloads by a double-digit factor. This number is growing monthly, so it really has paid off,” said Dick Schiferli, founder and CEO of Pamela-Systems.
“We’re pleased that so many people love using Skype and are downloading Extras at this incredible pace to connect with people they care about around the world,” said Paul Amery, Director of the Skype Developer Program. “The Skype developer community continues to amaze us by creating new software and tools that plug in directly to Skype and enable the Skype community to do cool things on Skype. We see developers as key partners for us to take Skype further on its journey of becoming the world’s greatest way to stay in touch over the Internet.”
The Skype Developer Program provides a global opportunity for developers to innovate and create new businesses and software that enrich the Skype experience for users. To date, there are more than 4,000 developers registered in the Skype Developer Program, which are creating a new generation of exciting software to allow users to do more on Skype.
Contact developer.skype.com.
BackFlip Software and Visual Mining Introduce Communication-Enabled Performance Dashboards
Visual Mining has entered a partnership with BackFlip Software, a provider of communication-enabled services and multi-channel user interaction. BackFlip Software has integrated NetCharts Server with their Event-Action Server delivering real-time interaction with analytic scorecards and performance dashboards resulting in faster and better-informed business decisions. BackFlip’s technology enables users to subscribe to, receive and respond to changes in enterprise key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics anywhere, anytime based on their presence through multiple modes of communication including: voice, instant messaging, text messaging (SMS), RSS, WAP, and e-mail.
Integrated with NetCharts graphical reporting tools, BackFlip Software’s Event-Action Server provides personalized dynamic information to clients requiring real time notification of critical operational process variances and enables them to take immediate corrective action. BackFlip Software’s presence awareness and personalization capabilities improve customers’ operational performance by delivering contextual, real-time actionable information to the front lines.
“In the highly competitive business activity monitoring industry, improving the end-user experience has become the only way for suppliers to succeed,” said Michael MacDonald, CEO, Visual Mining, Inc. “With the incorporation of Web 2.0 technologies, our portfolio of graphical reporting and performance dashboard software offers a complete data visualization solution that can give independent software vendors (ISVs) a competitive edge in the marketplace.”
NetCharts Server equips developers with the charting tools necessary to produce outstanding, reliable, and dynamic graphical reporting applications for Business Performance Management. NetCharts Server presents the easiest and most comprehensive path to server-side generation of Web-based graphic images. Run NetCharts Server as a standalone application server or easily integrate it into J2EE, J2SE, Microsoft .NET, and ColdFusion environments to create and deploy executive dashboards, interactive online reports, and performance monitoring solutions.
Contact www.backflipsoftware.com
Contact www.visualmining.com
Aldon Announces Acquisition by Marlin Equity Partners
Aldon, a provider of process-driven Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solutions, has been acquired by Marlin Equity Partners.
"In the dynamic application life cycle management market, the opportunity to target emerging areas effectively – such as SOA, Web 2.0, etc. – requires strong capital investment," said Melinda Ballou, program director, Application Life Cycle Management service at IDC, a leading research and advisory service company headquartered in Framingham, Mass. "Marlin's investment with Aldon can help provide the combined organization with opportunities to invest and extend Aldon's existing technology resources in important emerging ALM growth areas."
“This transaction is an excellent fit with Aldon’s strategic direction,” said Matt Scholl, president and chief operating officer for Aldon “With Marlin’s financial support, we can continue to establish significant success in the ALM market and grow aggressively toward building a robust platform of market-leading technologies.”
“Over the last 28 years, Aldon has successfully developed a strong international customer base and superior set of core technologies for the ALM marketplace,” said David McGovern, managing director at Marlin Equity Partners. “We see significant opportunity to build on this foundation through strategic organic growth initiatives as well as through acquisitions.”
Contact www.marlinequity.com
Contact www.aldon.com
KANA to Acquire eVergance
KANA Software, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase eVergance Partners, LLC, a management consulting and systems integration firm offering end-to-end consulting services for CRM optimization, knowledge management, and Web self-service deployments. Through this acquisition, KANA will significantly expand its professional services portfolio to meet growing demand for consulting and implementation services.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to KANA for 2007, and is expected to close during the second quarter of KANA’s 2007 fiscal year.
“Demand for professional services to optimize and extend KANA’s solutions is at an all-time high, demonstrated by our 50% year-over-year growth rate in this area,” said Michael Fields, KANA CEO and Chairman of the Board. “eVergance brings a proven track record of more than 200 successful customer service engagements, as well as a history of thought leadership in the knowledge management and Web self-service space. We believe this acquisition will further realize our goal of helping companies ensure that customer service is a top line strategic business differentiator.”
The acquisition is anticipated to immediately double the size of KANA’s professional services team and expand the company’s professional services offerings in all areas, including deployment support, customer service strategy, optimization, and managed services. eVergance will provide a new set of offerings to KANA customers that complement and extend the services currently provided by KANA and its partners.
Contact www.KANA.com
Invensys Agrees to Acquire CIMNET
Invensys Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Invensys, PLC, and CIMNET, Inc. have signed a definitive agreement to merge CIMNET into Invensys in an all-cash transaction. Invensys is offering to purchase CIMNET for $2.43 per share, valuing the transaction at approximately $23.2 million plus the assumption of existing debt.
John Richardson, CEO and founder of CIMNET commented, “We are extremely pleased to report the pending merger with Invensys. The combination of CIMNET’s Factelligence software with the customer base and distribution network of Invensys will greatly enhance the solutions provided to new and existing customers of both companies. We expect a very strong and positive response from our customers.”
The merger is subject to the approval of the holders of a majority of CIMNET’s voting stock and other customary conditions. The proposed transaction is expected to close this summer. Certain CIMNET stockholders (including certain officers and directors), representing approximately 51% of the CIMNET’s voting stock have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction.
Contact www.invensys.com
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| Upcoming Industry Events - Click here to view full Calendar |
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June 4-6 – Gartner IT & Software Asset Management Summit, Nashville, Tenn. Contact www.gartner.com
June 4-6 – Gartner Security Summit, Washington, DC. Contact www.gartner.com
June 6-7 – SLAM 2007 – Sales, Licensing, Alliances & Marketing for Software Companies, Denver, Colo. Contact www.softwarebusinessonline.com Software Business Will Have an Editor At This Show
June 9-12 – Distributed Object Computing for Real-time and Embedded Computing, Washington, DC. Contact www.omg.org
June 10-14 – IBM Rational Software Development Conference – Americas 2007, Orlando, Fla. Contact www.ibm.com/rational/rsdc
June 18-21 – Better Software Conference, Las Vegas, Nev. Contact www.sque.com
June 18-21 – Enterprise 2.0, Boston, Mass. Contact www.enterprise2conf.com
June 19 – Virtualization 2.0, San Francisco, Calif. Contact www.idc.com
June 20-21 – New York Venture Summit, New York, NY. Contact www.vcsummit.com
June 21 -- Growth and Exit Strategies for Software & IT Companies, Santa Clara, Calif. Contact www.worldfinancialsymposiums.com
June 24-26 – Consulting World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Contact www.amanet.org
June 27-28 – The Business Intelligence Conference, Chicago, Ill. Contact www.conference-board.com
SLAM 2007: Sales, Licensing, Alliances & Marketing for Software Companies
June 6-7
Hyatt Regency Tech Center in Denver, Colorado.
The third annual conference focuses successful business development models, sales methodologies, licensing technologies, partnering, customer relationship management, growth opportunities, and marketing issues facing software companies. Attendees are vice presidents, directors, product managers and personnel at independent software vendors.
SLAM 2007 will offer visionary keynotes from executives at the software companies shaping the industry and in-depth breakout session will offer insight from the top sales consultants who work for software companies. The program is unmatched in delivering the tools and processes to reach quarterly and annual targets. This year's conference will have added emphasis on New Market Opportunities, Partnership Programs, Software as a Service Evolution, and Future Industry Trends.
CommunicAsia2007 
The 18th International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition & Conference
19-22 June 2007
Singapore Expo
www.CommunicAsia.com
CommunicAsia2007 (The 18th International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition & Conference) is where the business of technology comes to life. The global event showcases a convergence of the latest digital technologies across mobile networks and applications, network infrastructure and satellite communications. Addressing the future of technology, the exhibition and conference provide opportunities for industry networking, a platform for business deals and a meeting of minds for thought leaders.
EnterpriseIT2007 
The 4th International Information Technology Exhibition & Conference for the Enterprise
19-22 June 2007
Singapore Expo
www.goto-EnterpriseIT.com
Where IT means business, EnterpriseIT2007 addresses the technology needs of the smart enterprise. Showcasing the latest applications for vertical industries such as financial services, government, healthcare, education, transportation and logistics, the event provides a meeting point between solution providers and buyers from the region.
5th Annual Growth & Exit Strategies for Software & IT Companies
June 21st, 2007
San Jose, CA
World Financial Symposiums (WFS) is an international organization dedicated to educating technology leaders. It organizes and promotes forums for CEOs, CFOs, corporate investors and other deal participants for the software and IT industries, with the intent to educate and encourage deal flow among industry participants. A true symposium, WFS brings together elements of the financial and partnering community, allowing for the exchange of innovative and effective approaches and methods being used in successful corporate growth plans today. The 5th Annual Growth & Exit Strategies for Software & IT Companies will be held in San Jose, CA, June 21, 2007. Featuring a topical agenda and world-class presenters, the conference provides an outstanding opportunity to learn about creating wealth and accelerating growth.
Software Business 2007
October 2-3
Santa Clara, Calif.
Software Business 2007 will be held October 2-3 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara , Calif. The annual conference focuses on current strategic business, financial and technology issues and growth opportunities facing top executives of software companies. It is a two-day conference serving owners, chief executives, presidents, vice presidents and division or department directors of leading and fast-growing software companies located throughout North America who are conducting business domestically and worldwide.
The sixth annual conference returns to Silicon Valley for the first time in four years. It will offer speakers from leading software companies and deliver the industry's most informative sessions through four tracks of sessions. Additionally, the conference will offer full- and half-day workshops on Monday, October 1.
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